The Future of Television will be an Immersive, Collaborative Experience: Cisco's Scott Puopolo at OTTCON 2011

This week in a keynote address at the OTTCON Over-the-Top TV Conference 2011 in San Jose, Scott Puopolo, Vice President and Global Head of Cisco's Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG), presented Cisco's predictions on what the future of television might look like in 20 years. Puopolo and his team developed the predictions based on interviews with more than 50 television industry and academic thought leaders who all agreed that almost every aspect of TV will be transformed – from how we interact with the TV; how channels will go away; how the remote control will disappear; how screens will do anything, anywhere and will become the nexus for all our connected, interactive and social video experiences – and move us away from the traditional linear "lean-back" TV viewing experience towards an immersive, collaborative experience in the future that goes beyond the Jetsons cartoon.

Many of the predictions are already evolving today with the explosion of connected devices, 3D viewing experiences, augmented reality, transmedia storytelling, advanced technology of touch screen and gesture driven control of screens that we've seen in futuristic sci-fi thrillers like Minority Report. As an example of what's in store for the future, Cisco says that TV will become a broader and more immersive sensory experience that will go beyond the visual and auditory senses to include the sense of smell and touch. But by far the biggest driver that propels innovation is the growth of online social communities and our need to be connected to them. Social interaction is embedded in many of the predictions of which could likely come to pass in the not-too-distant future.

I caught up with Puopolo following his keynote, where he presented 5 of the 10 predictions from the study, The Future of Television: Sweeping Change at Breakneck Speed, which he said, "offers the first holistic vision of the future across all key dimensions of the television industry and sheds new light on the likelihood and timing of innovation."



On the Cisco blog, Puopolo summarized the 5 predictions he presented to the OTTCON audience:

• Is It Real or Is It TV? Sensory technology will enable new creative tools for producers and new experiences for consumers. So we’ll not only see Rachael Ray’s brownies -- we’ll smell them, and eventually taste them, too.
• Screens Do Anything, Anywhere: Instead of buying TV sets per se, viewers will buy multipurpose screens. A screen in a bedroom could display your favorite painting or change into a teleconference monitor when you’re not watching TV.
• Don’t Just Watch, Get Involved: Viewers will break the confines of the TV episode and interact with their favorite characters in everyday life. They could, for instance, collaborate with other fans to help key characters solve a crime or mystery.
• Channels Go Away: Soon TV will be customized to your tastes. No more searching through menus to find a show -- the best streaming and on-demand TV will find you.
• Viewers Kiss the Remote Goodbye: Consumers will use words, gestures, and devices such as smartphones and iPads to control their TVs. You might raise the volume or choose a different show with a simple flick of your wrist.

The 5 others predictions in the study are:

• Ads Get Personal - you can interact with - In the future the majority of ads will be contextual, highly interactive, and laser-targeted to each viewer.
• Watch Together, Virtually - TV will be an enabler of social interaction, encouraging group participation at home with remote friends and family. Viewers will experience a sense of community for the duration of the program.
• Your TV Follows You - Content will be ubiquitous and available to you on any device wherever you are. Consumers will no longer be tethered to a particular device or network, and there will be limited ties to time itself.
•  “Regular Joes” Go Hollywood - Semiprofessional and amateur film and TV-making will flourish, and decentralized methods to create, fund, and deliver content to the mass market will thrive.
•  Creation Goes Viral - Content creators will invite consumers directly into the process.

CiscoIBSG produced this video to describe the 10 predictions for the future of television:



While the views among the experts varied on adoption rates of technology most did agreed that pay TV models will evolve and that consumers will have more control of their content experiences. Cisco IBSG believes that the combination of three key drivers—technology, consumer behavior, and business models – will accelerate our vision of the future and bring about enormous changes within the next 5-10 years that will permanently and dramatically alter our television experience.

For the evolving industry of PayTV operators, content producers, consumer electronics manufacturers, media aggregators and service providers, Puopolo said that competition for the consumer will also intensify dramatically.

So, what's the big message in all of this?

Puopolo summed it up in this way:

"The concept of consumer, controlled, increased, immersive, interactive experience is going to be the future of television and the consumption of our content is going to be ubiquitous. We'll be able to access it anywhere, anytime, from any device in any format."

Related:

• Learn more about these predictions: Download the report (PDF link)
• Read Scott Puopolo's blog post: Cisco Blog » Blog Archive » The Future of Television: Sweeping Change at Breakneck Speed
• Read other posts: Cisco Blog » Scott Puopolo

OTTCON coverage:

• No channels, the viewer is the remote, and you—literally—can stop and smell the roses: TV 2030 - FierceOnlineVideo
• The Future of TV: No Networks, Remotes...or TVs? | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

Cisco Brings TelePresence to Consumers with ūmi

Over a year ago, I had heard from a friend who works at Cisco that the company would was working on a consumer TelePresence product. After much anticipation, Cisco officially announced its consumer home TelePresence system called ūmi, which brings HD videoconferencing to consumers. ūmi is available for pre-order only in the U.S. and will start to ship on 11/15/2010 at a cost of $599.99. Cisco ūmi connects to an existing HD television and a broadband internet connection and comprises of a set top box, a remote, and a 1080p camera that sits on top of your TV.

As part of its ongoing efforts to capture the consumer video market, Cisco has made ūmi simple from a consumer standpoint. On your end, you'll need a HDTV, a broadband Internet connection with a minimum of 1.5 Mbps for 720p and 3.5 Mbps for 1080p and a Cisco ūmi service plan at $24.99/month or $274.99/year for unlimited calls and up to 100 minutes of recorded video messages.

From the reviews I've seen, the ūmi calls are very high quality and the audio is natural, much like the enterprise TelePresence products. Similar to Tandberg videoconferencing systems, ūmi is controlled by a single remote control that manages video calls, video messages, contacts, and profile and settings. Recorded messages can be shared on Facebook, YouTube, or via email.

The camera is set on autofocus, autoexposure, white balance, optical zoom, as well as a motor for panning and tilting. Cisco was also smart to make ūmi compatible with Google video chat, which allows ūmi systems to send and receive video calls to any user with a computer, webcam and Google video chat.

Cisco chairman and CEO John Chambers said:

"Cisco ūmi will bring the unique telepresence experience into living rooms and change the way we are able to be together with family and friends. We envision a future where technologies like this will play a role in connecting consumers with businesses to enable the delivery of new services, ranging from education, to health care, to financial services – to the home."

As part of its non-stop TelePresence marketing campaign, Cisco will be launching a major marketing campaign for ūmi with "The Oprah Winfrey Show",  Ellen Page, the star of "Juno" and "Inception," and a Cisco ūmi mall tour that begins Nov. 10 and travels to more than 20 major malls across the U.S.

I love it that my friend Dave Beeler, star of Safety Geeks and Invention with Brian Forbes stars in all the new ūmi commercials.



Cisco is working with Verizon to bring ūmi to Verizon FiOS customers early next year, and also is working with Best Buy as a ūmi reseller through its Magnolia Home Theatre stores this holiday season. Magnolia Home Theatre stores will provide product support and bandwidth packages, with installation and support provided by The Geek Squad.

Also this week, Logitech announced its Google TV product, Logitech Revue With Google TV, that is similarly priced for all the bells and whistles, according to Techcrunch. Techcrunch also caught up with Marthin De Beer, Cisco’s SVP of the Emerging Technologies Group, for an interview to question him about ūmi's $600.00 price tag. According to De Beer, ūmi is like a fine “piece of chocolate,” as "it’s impossible to define it’s worth without a little taste."

Cisco ūmi specs:

Video resolution

• Full HD 1080p video calling (1920x1080 pixels) and 720p recording at 30 frames per second.
• Dynamic resolution scaling based on available bandwidth (1080p, 720p, and 480p supported)

Camera optics and mechanics

• Optical zoom
• Multi glass lens
• Auto focus, auto exposure and auto white balance
• Motorized aim –pan, tilt, and zoom
• Motorized shutter for privacy control

Microphone and speaker

• Built-in microphone array with software beamforming
• Embedded speaker for incoming call ringing

TV compatibility

• Compatible with high-definition widescreen TVs capable of 1080p or 720p with available HDMI port.
• Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n ) 

Networking

• 10/100 Ethernet (RJ-45)

Video/Audio input and outputs

• HDMI Out: ūmi console to TV, HDMI In: media passthrough supported with select set top boxes and BluRay equipment.
• Digital audio over HDMI or optical audio

Infrared

• Built-in IR receiver for ūmi remote

Skype and Twitter "Do the CEO Shuffle"

The latest dance craze sweeping the tech world is, "Do the CEO Shuffle" with two notable and high profile positions being filled yesterday at Skype and Twitter. While this is not a new dance step, and actually it's quite well known in many industries, it's interesting that these two appointments fall on the same day. Both companies have enormous user bases and each are on a major roll.

So what it so interesting about Skype's new CEO announcement?

According to Erick Schonfeld who broke the news, Skype appointed Cisco SVP Tony Bates as CEO to replace Skype's current CEO Josh Silverman. Bates had been running Cisco's Enterprise, Commercial and Small Business Group, which accounted for 80 percent of Cisco's annual revenue worth $30 billion. Bates is the second Cisco executive to jump ship following Dr Jonathan Rosenberg who left Cisco last November to become Skype's CTO.

Schoenfeld said:

"The company recently filed to go public in August. And while there were rumors that a company like Cisco might buy it, adding a new CEO at this time points more strongly in the direction of an IPO. The earlier Cisco rumors now make sense. Cisco wasn’t trying to buy Skype. Rather, Skype was trying to hire the guy who runs most of Cisco."

In the press release Bates noted that Skype is both a powerful brand and global leader in Internet communications, and said:

"There are extraordinary opportunities ahead for Skype and I am eager to lead the company through this exciting juncture in its continuing transformation. I look forward to working with Skype’s management team and talented employees to engineer the next wave of game-changing products and services for our users.”

As Skype makes a serious move into the enterprise, and is on track to exceed $1 billion in revenues in 2011. Skype has over 560 million registered users and averages 124 million active users a month, but only 8.1 million of them actually pay for the service. Last week, Kara Swisher reported that Skype and Facebook are readying a deep integration partnership, that would include SMS, voice chat and Facebook Connect.

According to Om Malik:

"Bates’ hiring is indicative of three things:

1. Skype is dead serious about an initial public offering (IPO).
2. The company isn’t looking to sell out anytime soon.
3. Skype is about to make a deeper push into carrier and enterprise markets."

And what about Twitter's new CEO?

As Twitter CEO for the last two years, Evan Williams noted the amazing growth of Twitter from 3 million registered users when he took job to more than 165 million. He cited the success of his brainchild, the New Twitter, as the main reason he is stepping down as CEO. He's appointed Twitter's COO, Dick Costolo, to succeed him as Twitter’s CEO starting today, so that he can focus completely on product strategy.


Williams and Costolo have been friends for years, and actually have switched roles sometime back with Williams returning to his software development roots and Costolo working on business development, revenue and other campaigns. Costolo is a three-time CEO and most recently helped found Feedburner, which was sold to Google. Costolo will oversee Twitter's day-to-day business functions and further expansion.

According to Fred Wilson, a VC who is also on Twitter’s board, said it's a very smart and gutsy move Williams' part, and that Costolo was “more of a manager, more of an executive, more of a businessman” than Williams.

Read more here: Evan Williams of Twitter Steps Down as Chief - NYTimes.com

Related:

• Breaking: Skype To Appoint A New CEO, Cisco SVP Tony Bates
• Breaking: Cisco Exec to Take Over as Skype CEO: Tech News «
• #newtwitterceo

New Flip UltraHD Finally Promises An External Microphone Input, Available in Early 2011 Through New FlipPort

A new line of Flip Video cameras was announced today by Cisco, including more affordable versions of the UltraHD ($149.00-199.00) and MinoHD $179.00-229.00) pocket camcorders, with a number a new enhancements that will finally bring the long awaited ability to connect an external microphone to the wildly popular pocket video camera. This will be possible in only the new UltraHD 8GB model, through a new proprietary port called a "FlipPort" located on the bottom of the device, and will connect peripherals that are part of the new "Designed for Flip" accessory program. The microphone is designed by Blue Microphones and called Mikey for FLIP, and won't be available until early next year, and likely to debut at CES.

One the big drawbacks of the Flip has been the inability to capture good quality sound,  and many were disappointed with the release earlier in the year of the SlideHD, which didn't include an external microphone input jack. However, Blue's peripheral contains a premium condenser stereo microphone capsule with automatic sensitivity switching for recording any volume level clearly: whispers, interviews, or rock concerts. It also sports a mic-in port which will allow for easy plug-in of additional microphones or microphone level audio sources which is similar to the Beachtek camcorder adapters that allow for plugging in standard XLR cables and connectors, and mounts in between the camera and tripod. The Mikey for FLIP is self-powered and runs on AAA batteries and will list starting at $69.00.

Videos are still recorded as H.264 MP4 files in 16:9 widescreen, HD 720p (1280 x 720), now at 60 frames per seconds (fps) progressive scan. Other new Flip UltraHD features include image stabilization, longer record time and higher bit rate recording (up to 8.8 Mbps) and a number of other optional peripherals, including a include a waterproof case, a Bower wide angle lens, an iGo Portable Pico Projector and a variety of power charging options: Flip Video Ultra™ Battery Pack, iGo Charge Anywhere, Flip Video Power Adapter. All the Flip Video products are available now at TheFlip.com, Amazon.com, and Best Buy and will be sold at Wal-Mart, Target, and Staples in the near future.

According to Jonathan Kaplan, senior vice president and general manager of Cisco Consumer Products:

"This is without question the best line of Flip Video cameras we've ever created. The new line combines Flip's signature simplicity and affordability with truly breakthrough video quality, unlimited personalization options, and an array of creative new accessories – all of which add up to more fun, and an even better video experience for our consumers."

For more details, read PC Magazine's full review here: Cisco Flip UltraHD 8GB 2 Hours (2010) Review & Rating | PCMag.com and check out the full line of Flip Video cameras and specs here.

From birthday parties, sporting events, conferences, social media mashups to corporate boardrooms, the Flip video camera spawned a new generation of UGC producers. But the important thing to keep in mind is that the Flip, the Kodak Zi8, the Sony Bloggie, the iPhone 4,  iPod Touch any of these $200.00 or less video cameras, are just that – $200.00 or less video cameras. You won't get the same quality as you would with professional video and audio equipment. But for most applications the Flip video quality is good enough.

If you're wondering how the new Flip Ultra measures up to the iPod Touch, watch this video for a side-by-side comparison: Flip UltraHD vs. iPod Touch (4th gen).

Oh Snap! Cisco Wants to Buy Skype Now Too? For Realz??

On the heels of Cisco's acquisition of Extend Media, rumor has it that the data-networking giant has made an offer to acquire Skype before the Internet telephony company makes an IPO, which they just announced on August 9. Mike Arrington reported the news this morning from reliable sources, and said that while TechCrunch has not been able to confirm this rumor, it's not surprising because companies, "in lock down during the IPO process, is usually even more tight lipped than normal." Arrington cited Skype insiders who valued the company at $5 billion or so.

Skype itself made a big announcement of its own today with the official launch of Skype Connect 1.0., the enterprise version of its VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) telephony service that had been in beta since March 2009. Skype Connect, connects Skype to IP-enabled private branch exchange (PBX) or Unified Communications (UC) systems, which are standard telecommunication infrastructures for voice calling across organizations. Skype Connect already has 2,400 active global users and is certified to work with PBX and UC products from many companies, including Cisco.

Skype has been growing steadily with 560 million users and 8.1 million of those users pay an average of $96 a year for premium services. Skype generated $13 million in profit on net revenues of $406 million in the first half of 2010.

If the TechCrunch rumor is true, adding Skype to its portfolio would give Cisco access to Skype's worldwide enterprise and consumer network, a popular brand with potential celebrity spokespeople (like Oprah), and would integrate with its unified communications suite of tools for web conferencing (WebEx), videoconferencing (Tandberg) and Telepresence for business customers. Cisco estimates that by 2014, video will comprise of 57% of Internet traffic company and sees the potential for a $30 billion video communications market.

The VAR Guy was thinking the same thing as I was in his post, Cisco Systems: Buying Skype for Low-End Video Conferencing? | The VAR Guy:

"So, why might Cisco be taking a look at Skype? The answer is simple: Web-based video conferencing.

• At the very high end of the market, Cisco continues to promote telepresence executive conference rooms that can cost $200,000 or more per location to deploy. Gradually, Cisco has extended its telepresence strategy to the mid-market and to lower-end systems.
• At the very low end of the market, Cisco acquired the Flip video camera. The goal: Make video incredibly easy to produce, so that consumers and businesses load up the web with even more video — driving even more demand for Cisco’s broadband networking solutions."

Garrett Smith of VoIP Insider, saw a lot of synergy between the two companies on a variety of levels, in his post, Skype Would Make Great Acquisition for Cisco, including target growth markets (small business in particular), technology dependent customers (noting a possible mashup of technologies, "Imagine a wireless Flip that allowed for mobile Skype video calling."), proprietary technology and consumer brand.

Another possible consumer play could be for video chat in the living room. Earlier this year at CES 2010, Skype announced a partnership with HDTV makers Panasonic and LG to bring its popular video chat software to the living room featuring an embedded version of Skype 4.2. Also at CES, Cisco demonstrated a home TelePresence system that it said would be rolling out trials this year, with Verizon in the U.S. and with France Telecom.

Bernie Arnason of  Telecompetitor cited out other possible integrations of Skype with Cisco's IPTV and set-top boxes, Linksys routing equipment and numerous broadband products that could be Skype "certified".

Back in April 2008, I wrote about the rumor that Google might Buy Skype?, when eBay was getting ready to sell, but that ultimately did not happen. There was a great deal of speculation then like there has been today. But what about Google? There was some talk of Google making an offer, but backed away due to anti-trust concerns. Google actually added a new VoIP phone calling feature from Gmail last week, which already had video chat capability. According to Google, over one millions calls were placed within 24 hours of the launch. The service is free in the U.S. through 2010 and is 2 cents/min on international calls, and I have to say it's worked flawlessly every time I've used it. Clearly, Google has stepped into the ring to duke it out with Skype in the voice and video chat market.

Richi Jennings of Computerworld, collected a sampling of analysis from the IT and tech blogs that you can read here: Cisco to buy Skype, pre-IPO? (and lock out) and see the links below.

Related:

• Report: Is Cisco chatting up Skype?
• Rumor Mill: Cisco buying Skype? - FierceVoIP
• What Would Cisco Do With Skype? - Deal Journal - WSJ 
• Cisco: Bidding For Skype? - Tech Trader Daily - Barrons.com
• Cisco Reportedly Considering Skype Acquisition -- InformationWeek
• Cisco Eyes Skype Acquisition: Reports - VOIP and Telephony from eWeek
• Cisco's Skype Plan May Chill Telcos
• Will Cisco Swoop in to Buy Skype Pre-IPO?
• Cisco Eyes Skype Acquisition: Reports - VOIP and Telephony from eWeek
• Skype - Business blog - Skype Connect 1.0 is Officially Launched

Cisco Extends Its Reach, Acquires ExtendMedia for Global Video Domination and TV Everywhere

Yesterday, Cisco Systems Inc. announced further expansion of its global video M&A strategy with its intent to acquire ExtendMedia Inc., to power its multi-screen delivery and "TV Everywhere" services. While financial terms of the transaction are undisclosed, Streaming Media EVP, Dan Rayburn estimates the the deal at $80 million which is expected to be complete in the first half of Cisco's fiscal year 2011. The Extend Media purchase will up Cisco's ability to grab a larger stake in the set-top business and IP-based video services.

Founded in 1991, the privately-held Boston, Massachusetts-based company specialized in video content management and monetization. It's closet competitor is thePlatform, which is owned by Comcast. ExtendMedia's main product is OpenCASE, a carrier-grade "TV Everywhere" platform for managing, publishing and monetizing video across PCs, televisions and mobile devices as well as game platforms, set-top boxes, and WiFi-enabled HDTVs. The majority of its employee base in Toronto, Canada, and will be integrated into Cisco's Service Provider Video Technology Group.

Cisco's Enrique Rodriguez, senior vice president and general manager, Cisco's Service Provider Video Technology Group explained the benefits of this deal:

 "ExtendMedia will strengthen Cisco's position in the delivery of IP video services by enabling service providers to provide a more interactive and personal experience and to optimize quality for consumer viewing devices."

Extend Media outlined the reasons for Cisco's acquistion in this FAQ:

Q. Why is Cisco acquiring ExtendMedia?

A: Cisco chose ExtendMedia because it has demonstrated success with key Tier-1 Service Providers. ExtendMedia brings a strong software team that understands the complexities of delivering multi-screen video over IP networks. Cisco has developed a successful working relationship with ExtendMedia over the past 2 years, and expects seamless integration with existing engineering teams. With expertise in both IP networks and video infrastructure, Cisco can enable Service Providers to offer a more interactive and personal experience and optimize delivery and quality for the viewing device.

Jeff Baungartner of Light Reading Cable provided some context to the deal within the overall market of multi-screen delivery:

"The deal arrives as operators such as Comcast Corp., Verizon Communications Inc., and Dish Network Corp. ramp up their TV Everywhere services, and cable operators begin to pursue IP video strategies. (Dish: TV Everywhere Site Is Portal to Growth.)

The acquisition would put Cisco in more direct competition with a range of publishers that have TVE aspirations, including Brightcove Inc., Limelight Networks Inc., which recently expanded into the game with its purchase of Delve Networks; and Comcast-owned thePlatform Inc. (Limelight Takes Aim at thePlatform, Brightcove.)"

While Cisco's press release didn't mention TV Everywhere, there is big money to be had in it over the next few years. Extend Media has been discussing how the television industry is being remade with the rise of the "The Virtual MSO" (”MSO” or “Multiple System Operator” is the industry term for a cable operator, like Comcast), as Janko Roettgers pointed out in his post Cisco’s ExtendMedia Purchase: TV Everywhere And Beyond:

"TV Everywhere was the industry’s favorite buzz word last year, and a number of operators as well as cable networks from Comcast to HBO have rolled out dedicated offerings since, but consumers have yet to jump onto these services en masse. However, it looks like ExtendMedia’s vision of TV Everywhere goes far beyond what’s being offered today."

Over the last several years, Cisco has been building its video empire with a focus on video collaboration, content creation and management, with the purchase of the Pure Digital, makers of popular Flip Video Camera, and videoconferencing vendor Tandberg, who it competed with in the TelePresence market.

According to Cisco, the Pure Digital acquisition exemplified its "build, buy and partner" strategy to move quickly into new markets and capture key market transitions. Working in many cases as a virtual company Cisco brokers services and white labels platforms that it hasn't yet acquired. At the time of the Tandberg deal which was a $3 billion purchase, New York Times' Ashlee Vance highlighted Cisco's recent M&A activity highlighted Cisco's recent M&A activity:

"In recent years, Cisco, based in San Jose, Calif., has been one of the technology industry’s most aggressive companies when it comes to acquisitions. It has bought close to 40 companies in the last five years, including the $6.9 billion purchase of the set-top box maker Scientific Atlanta and the $2.9 billion purchase of the Web meeting software maker WebEx. This year, Cisco bought Pure Digital, which makes the popular Flip video camera for consumers, for $590 million."

Several years earlier, Cisco also acquired web conferencing platform WebEx, a desktop collaboration standard for many companies and core to Cisco's unified communications experience. There's also speculation that Cisco will expand into the booming virtual event platform its own product for managing large scale virtual events. Over this past year, Cisco acquisitions have included smart grid company Grid Net, design consultancy Moto Development Group, and digital signal processing company Core Optics. See: List of acquisitions by Cisco Systems - Wikipedia for more information.

In this video Charles Carmel, VP Corporate Development, discusses major Cisco acquisitions and investments in FY2010 in relation to its "build, buy and partner" strategy:

Unlike Comcast that now own a stake of NBC, Cisco has yet to buy a content company and stayed primarily within the media and host network layers. But as the video industry and digital media space furthers consolidates, who's to say they won't?

About Cisco Systems

Cisco, (NASDAQ: CSCO), the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate, this year celebrates 25 years of technology innovation, operational excellence and corporate social responsibility. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, go to http://newsroom.cisco.com.


About ExtendMedia:
ExtendMedia is the leading independent provider of enterprise-class, multi-screen video software and solutions that help content owners and distributors build and deploy video services. Extend's flagship product, OpenCASE, manages video content across the lifecycle from ingest to monetization and across IPTV, web and mobile services in both ad-supported and pay media business models. Headquartered in Boston, Mass., ExtendMedia powers initiatives for innovative communications, media and consumer electronics companies including AT&T, Bell Canada, Hewlett-Packard, Mitsubishi/UB Cross, SanDisk and Thales. For more information, visit www.extend.com.


Related:

• Cisco Announces Intent to Acquire ExtendMedia -> Cisco News
• Cisco’s ExtendMedia Purchase: TV Everywhere And Beyond
• Updated: Cisco To Acquire Extend Media In Deal Worth $80M | The Business Of Online Video
• Light Reading Cable - Video - Cisco Buys Into TV Everywhere (Again) - Telecom News Analysis
• Updated: Cisco Buys Online Video Distributor ExtendMedia For $80 Million | paidContent
• The Television Industry Re-Made; the Rise of the “Virtual MSO”
• Cisco Buying ExtendMedia, Three Screen Content Platform + Networking
• ExtendMedia » And the walls came tumbling down…

Update 8/28/2010: Added YouTube - Charles Carmel discusses major Cisco acquisitions and investments in FY2010 and additional Cisco 2010 M&A information

Skytide Shares Insight for Online Video Publishers, Identify the “Sweet Spot" and What is "Good Enough"

In part two of my conversation with Roy Peterkofsky, VP of Product Management at Skytide, I asked what can publishers really get from analytics that could really help monetize their businesses. Roy suggested that businesses are waking up to the fact that the online video part of their organization does need to be a real business. He recommended that people should read Warren Buffet, because all businesses make decisions based on resource allocation. Among the core challenges facing online video publishers, is how to define the "sweet spot" and what is "good enough" when it comes to the affect that quality has on viewer engagement. Quality can be defined in terms of both quality of service (QoS) of the content delivery network, and the actual quality of the content that is produced and published online.



Some digital media companies assume that "more is better" and that the road to higher profits lies in maximizing QoS levels, thinking that it will result in higher viewer engagement levels, and in turn, more consumption of their content. Roy suggested that performace-based metrics can help with editorial and content programming decisions, whether a certain genre performs better than another. Or when data shows that viewers stop watching a 5 minute video after 2 minutes, viewer drop off can impact the production of future videos and dictate their total run time. Also, since the shelf life of a video online is pretty short – to get value out of analytics, you need to be able to use the analytics predictively.

Roy said:

"People talk frequently about the need to push higher resolutions, higher bit rates out to their customers – to be as close to HD, whatever that means in the Internet world – as they can be. But the question that remains unanswered is – is it worth it? Do you really get more viewer engagement to the extent that it drives monetization out of doing this?"

According to Skytide's customer data, there is a correlation between engagement and bit rate when it's down in the lower reaches and not good enough, people will abandon the video quickly. But once you get to a level that's good enough things really start to flatten out, and you really don't get that much added value.

So what is good enough?

"Well basically, it's kind of about if you're using the maximum capability of a typical DSL line. That seems to be good enough for most people. Above and that you're spending a lot on encoding, you're spending a lot of money on pushing out bits through your CDN – and you're not getting that much return from it."

Skytide advises that publishers measure and understand the impact of online video investments before spending the money.

See part one of my interview with Roy Peterkofsky here. You can also request a copy of Skytide's white paper Streaming Video Quality: Is more always better?


About Roy Peterkofsky, Vice President of Product Management

Skytide Sees Big Changes Within the CDN Market, Releases Insight 2.0 Reporting & Analytics Solution for CDN Providers and Resellers

Skytide is a software-as-a-service company that provides reporting and analytics solutions for online video publishers and Content Delivery Networks. Today, the Oakland, California-based company announced the "next generation" of its Insight for CDNs reporting and analytics platform, upgraded to support what Skytide sees as "the innovative business models proliferating among CDN providers and resellers". Skytide has been around since 2004, and recently won a 2009 Streaming Media Readers' Choice Award for its Skytide Insight for Flash Video Players video analytics solution that combines viewer engagement and quality of service (QoS) metrics. Skytide's patented digital media performance management solutions pull high volume data from disparate data sources — like web analytics data, CDN logs and online video ad data — and integrates them into a single dashboard to help companies see the big picture of how their company works, and how the different parts are interrelated to each other.

According to Roy Peterkofsky, Skytide's VP of Product Management, it's all about resource allocation. Companies that publish and deliver online video need more advanced analytics that clearly detail how their content is used, in order to maximize their online video investments. While it's great to know about viewer engagement and quality of service, it's even better to know how quality of service affects viewer engagement – and how viewer engagement drives revenue, or sometimes not. I recently spoke with Roy about the latest release of Insight 2.0 and the significant changes his company is seeing within the content delivery space.



Roy said that:

"One of the things we're seeing is really a change in the whole digital media supply chain – where a lot of companies are going to be entering the CDN space and doing so with innovative business models. So probably 6 months or a year ago, everybody thought the CDN market was commoditizing and was going to consolidate and there's only going to be two or three or four big ones left – but interestingly enough for various reasons we're seeing a lot of new companies enter the field, often they're Telcos.

Telcos, they really own the network that the Akamais and Limelights of the worlds are operating under. So, flashback to 10 years ago to Web 1.0, the original dot-com boom, the disintermediation was big then because it was all about using the web to eliminate middle men. So if you're a Telco and you've got the Akamais and Limelights of the world making money off of your network, wouldn't you want to know – why can't I be taking the margin for myself? Why don't I disintermediate that CDN?" 

But the way Skytide sees it – it goes way beyond that, and it's really a dramatic change and disruption within the ecosystem with cable operators wanting to do TV Everywhere, Telcos moving into the CDN business, the rise of P2P networks, and what used to be an ISP can be a CDN,  or a CDN can be a conent aggregator and what used to be a publisher can be a pure content factory without its own website. Skytide is seeing it all and working with many companies that have projects that are so secret, they don't even know about them yet but they are providing the reporting and analytics for many of them.

Skytide President & CEO, Michael O’Donnell also pointed out that “seismic changes are afoot in the content delivery arena" and that Skytide's new offering will help those companies emerging to challenge CDNs hold on the content delivery market. He said:

"Those entering the space will need a reporting & analytics solution that can accommodate evolving business models and handle the massive amounts of data that CDNs generate — something that Skytide is uniquely capable of handling out of the box.”

Among the new Skytide Insight Version 2.0 features are:

• Custom Dimensions: Content delivery networks, CDN resellers and their customers and business partners can now measure traffic distribution by any desired attribute; for example, by content categories, customer types or service types.
• ISP / Business Partner Portal: Content delivery networks and resellers can stay on top of rapidly changing business models by providing business partners - like bandwidth suppliers, content owners or syndicators - with their very own reporting portals.

These new features augment Skytide's existing CDN reporting & analytics capabilities, including more than 144 distinct reports that can be used to isolate and correct service quality issues, forecast traffic and provision capacity, justify pricing and ensure accurate billing.

Not all data that CDNs provide to their customers is accurate, and Skytide has found that in some cases that data is incorrect. Roy cited a few examples where data from their system when compared to an unnamed CDN, helped in one case, improve video start up times of content in a certain Asian country that had been unnecessarily rerouted through a POP in an entirely different continent. In another case, a certain type of content that was licensed only in the U.S. found that 20% of the views came from outside the U.S. Skytide's data helped the customer close the leak of the geo-blocked content that this specific CDN missed.

Stay tuned for part two of my interview with Roy Peterkofsky where he further the discusses the changing CDN space, and how publishers can benefit from analytics to better monetize their businesses.

About Skytide
Founded in 2004, Skytide provides Digital Media Performance Management to leading digital media companies and content delivery providers with the most complete view of their operations, delivering the information necessary to make better-informed business decisions. Only Skytide's software-as-a-service and on-premise solutions can process massive amounts of disparate data sources - including CDN log files, ad insertion logs, and web analytics data - and consolidate them into a single 360° view. Skytide is venture-backed and works with leading digital media and technology companies including: Accenture subsidiary, Origin Digital; Cisco; Clear Channel Communications; Comcast subsidiary, thePlatform; IBM; MTV Networks and Qwest. Press Contact: Patrick Hurley, 510-435-9865 phurley@skytide.com
 
Skytide has a series of white papers that you can request on download here.

Cisco to Acquire Tandberg for $3 Billion in a Bid to Own the Videoconferencing Space

Mergers and acquisitions are heating up and in a move that has sent shockwaves through the video collaboration market, Cisco has made a hefty bid of $3 Billion in cash to acquire Norwegian videoconferencing vendor TANDBERG. The definitive agreement was recommended unanimously by Tandberg’s board of directors and represents an 11.0% premium to Tandberg's closing stock on Wednesday and more than 25% to the average closing price over the last three months.

The merger of the two companies will likely create an unstoppable force that both disrupts the collaboration market and extends the reach of both platforms from low bandwidth desktop and mid-range group based videoconferencing systems to HD videoconferencing and TelePresence. In nothing short of a brilliant move by Cisco to acquire rival in the space, the San Jose company will add Tandberg's portfolio of middle market end points, desktop units, multipoint control units (MCUs) and network infrastructure solutions into it's growing line of video offerings.

Video collaboration is hot and Cisco knows that. In the NY Times, Ashlee Vance highlighted Cisco's recent M&A activity:

"In recent years, Cisco, based in San Jose, Calif., has been one of the technology industry’s most aggressive companies when it comes to acquisitions. It has bought close to 40 companies in the last five years, including the $6.9 billion purchase of the set-top box maker Scientific Atlanta and the $2.9 billion purchase of the Web meeting software maker WebEx. This year, Cisco bought Pure Digital, which makes the popular Flip video camera for consumers, for $590 million."

Several years earlier, Cisco acquired web conferencing platform WebEx which has become the desktop standard for many companies and core to Cisco's unified communications experience. Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers pointed out that Cisco and Tandberg share similar cultures and visions on video technologies and unified communications collaboration and video communications, and noted that, “Collaboration is a $34 billion market and is growing rapidly—enabled by networked Web 2.0 technologies."

In an email to channel partners Tandberg CEO Fredrik Halvorsen wrote:

"Moving forward, our diverse mix of partners worldwide will continue to be critical to the success of the combined company. With a combined channel network, TANDBERG's Video Conferencing and Audio Visual partners will be invaluable in helping to broaden the appeal of Cisco's solutions portfolio and a welcome addition to their channel. Systems Integrators and Service Providers will also benefit from a stronger global services and delivery model. The combination of TANDBERG and Cisco will create an organization that will yield significant new opportunities for partners to sell a broader range of products and grow their businesses. Together with our partners, we believe we can drive explosive growth in this market."

In this video, the two CEOs discuss the merger.

According to current Q2 data from Wainhouse Research, TANDBERG has 40% market share followed by Polycom in a close second with 34% in the $1.5 billion-a-year market. ZDNet's Larry Dignan speculated that Polycom could be next on Cisco's M&A list and the ripples of the disruption have already been felt in the videoconferencing market. Tandberg rival Radvision, maker of MCUs, gateways and interactive video platforms for Cisco saw its stock plummet today with analysts now calling them "a friend now foe."

Earlier in the year, I had the opportunity to see a demonstration of the Tandberg Telepresence T3 system. I was impressed by the quality, the room design and interoperability with non-telepresence systems. Many in the industry know that Radvision technology was under the hood of many Cisco products. I'd like to see Cisco incorporate Tandberg's innovation and design aesthetic into their line of video collaboration tools. It's also likely that Tandberg and Cisco TelePresence customers will be taking a wait and see approach to technology purchases until the 2010 when the two companies are able to merge their product lines. The Tandberg videoconferencing products will offer an affordable HD alternative to Cisco's expensive and proprietary TelePresence.

Both companies have their own unified communications platforms to bridge collaboration across their platforms. Now with this partnership, unified communications just got more unified.

It's also interesting to note that back in February of this year Howard Licthman publicly predicted that Cisco would buy Tandberg. He has other thoughts and analysis here.

• Cisco Makes Recommended Offer to Acquire TANDBERG -> Cisco News
  
• Cisco Buys Tandberg, a Video Conference Company - NYTimes.com
  
• Cisco to buy video firm Tandberg for $3 billion | Business Tech - CNET News
  
• Cisco's Downmarket Videoconferencing Move - BusinessWeek
  
• Polycom: A potential takeover target following Cisco-Tandberg deal | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com
  
• Radvision plunges on Cisco-Tandberg proposed deal - MarketWatch
  
• Larry Kless' Weblog: Tandberg Telepresence T3 Demonstration, An "Immersive Experience"
  
• Special Edition of the Telepresence Options Telegraph - Cisco Buys TANDBERG, IBM will Provide Telepresence Managed Services - Telepresence Options
  

About TANDBERG
TANDBERG is the leading provider of telepresence, high-definition videoconferencing and mobile video products and services. The Company has dual headquarters in New York and Oslo. TANDBERG designs, develops and markets systems and software for video, voice and data communication. The Company provides sales, support and value-added services in more than 90 countries worldwide. TANDBERG is publicly traded on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker TAA.OL. Visit www.tandberg.com for more information.

About Cisco
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com.

Update 10/9/09: Correction on Radvision OEM in Cisco products

eMarketer Report Says Online Video Coming Into Focus, 188 Million US Viewers by 2013

In a new report analyzing the upward trajectory of online video consumption, eMarketer projects that there will be 144 million online video viewers in the US this year, growing to 188 million viewers in 2013. The report, Video Content: A Premium Opportunity, points out that audience levels and stream counts are rising, the demographic range of the viewing population is expanding and the content mix is evolving from short, snack-type clips to long-form content such as TV shows and feature films. As the medium matures so do the monetization models but for consumers it's unlikely that they would be willing to ever pay for the bulk of it. It's more likely that in the future Hulu and YouTube would move to a pay-per-view or download model for premium content.













Paul Verna, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the report said,

“Most video inventory is funded through ad support. This includes user-generated content, news clips, humor videos, TV shows and special events such as the Olympics. On the other side of the coin, feature films and mainstream sports content continue to be monetized through subscriptions and download fees.”

Mr. Verna noted that the bulk of the current video inventory is discoverable through social networks, blogs, microblogs, e-mail and other social platforms which TubeMogul confirmed earlier this year. That creates the perfect storm for a viral video hit and opens up opportunities for content distributors and marketers. Video quality is getting better too he added saying that,

“Gone are the days when the space was dominated by short user-generated clips aimed primarily at a collegiate crowd. Now, video offerings cater to all age groups and interests, from teenage sports buffs to news junkies to retirees who enjoy classic movies.”

Online video has come a long way from its early days and the rise of YouTube and other web portals, free and premium destinations fueled that growth. Knowledge Networks found that from 2006 to 2008, the percentages of US Internet users across every age group who accessed full-length TV shows grew by significant margins.

Gavin O'Malley from Mediapost added that,

"A number of trends will keep online video on an aggressive growth trajectory in the coming years. These include mobile distribution through smartphones and next-generation networks; HD streaming and other quality enhancements; better integration among PCs, digital cable boxes and TVs; and interactivity features that work better online than on TV."

For those following the online video industry it should come as no surprise that the growth is exploding, as it was just last month that Cisco announced the results of their Visual Networking Index (VNI) Forecast and Methodology, 2008-2013 which states that by 2013 video will be 90 percent of consumer IP traffic and 64 percent of mobile. More evidence came earlier in the year when The Nielsen Company reported that viewing of video on television, Internet and mobile devices - the Three Screens - continues to increase and has reached new heights. John Burbank of the Nielsen Company highlights the findings of their A2/M2 Three Screen Report in this video.

Chris Albrecht though suggested that as studios and cable operators make their moves to put their premium content behind subscription walls,

"It’s possible that could actually reduce consumption. Between Time Warner’s TV Everywhere, Comcast OnDemand Online, Netflix, and a supposed Disney subscription service, premium content could choke off its audience before it’s fully realized."

That's unlikely though to stop the continued growth since the millions of online viewers consume video for free through blogs, search engines, social networks and video destination sites.

Related:

• Online Video Comes into Focus - eMarketer
• Video Content: A Premium Opportunity - eMarketer
• Online video audiences can't grow fast enough | Blog | Econsultancy
• MediaPost Publications Video Consumption Goes Up, Willingness To Pay Down 08/05/2009
• TubeMogul - Research Reports
• eMarketer: 188M Online Video Viewers in 2013
• Cisco Visual Networking Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2008-2013 [Visual Networking Index] - Cisco Systems
• TV, Internet And Mobile Usage In U.S. Continues To Rise | Nielsen Wire

Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's ooVoo!

I was just reading a post on the ooVoo blog by ooVoo CEO, Philippe Schwartz who described his recent experience of conducting an ooVoo video call from an airplane. He called it "a first" saying that he's probably done thousands of ooVoo calls both one-to-one and multi-party but never from an airplane. "I’ve ooVoo’d from cars, trains, cafes, hotels and had calls that connect people from Ohio, New York, Boston, Atlanta, Israel and Florida – all in one session! You would think I would be a little jaded – a little less apt to be wowed and amazed by a technology I work with every day. Frankly, I am still amazed daily by ooVoo, but on April 3, I shocked even myself," said Schwartz. "On a Virgin Air flight from San Francisco to Boston coming back from the Web. 2.0 conference – I logged onto the wireless connection at 30,000 feet, started up ooVoo and had an amazing, multi-point video chat from the plane with our owner and our vice president of marketing."

Here's the video, ooVoo is calling it a communication milestone which marks a first for the airline and video conferencing industries. ooVoo manages the in-air call quite well!



Schwartz was proud of the accomplishment saying that, “When I learned about Virgin America’s new WiFi service I couldn’t wait to put ooVoo to the test. Speaking face-to-face mid-flight with two colleagues on the ground was not only a testament to the quality of the service we’ve built, but to how far we’ve come technologically as a society.”

It's interesting to note is that videoconferencing technology like ooVoo was first developed years ago to save people travel time and keep them out of their cars and off airplanes to reduce the wear and tear from travel and increase their productivity. Today, with company travel budgets being slashed the business case for videoconferencing and virtual meetings have become an easier sell to the IT budget approvers since the ROI can be measured against the hard travel cost data.

But how much does the technology really need to cost? Looking at the ooVoo video and recognizing that it's a portable solution that can connect people anywhere by using a laptop, camera, microphone, conferencing software and internet connection - is it really necessary for companies to invest in hundred thousand dollar telepresence suites to enable employees and executives to connect? Granted ooVoo, Skype and the many other video chat solutions are either free or low cost and low bandwidth solutions and can't compete with high bandwidth high definition videoconferencing systems like Tandberg, Cisco, Lifesize or any of the others in the telepresence space. But as a collaborative tool, it's all videoconferencing whether it's a "fully immersive experience" or not.

Videoconferencing has gotten a bad wrap for many years because of connection issues, poor audio quality, complicated logistics or lack of support but video quality has not been a deal breaker. Over the years as video encoding standards have improved people have become used to seeing compressed video as long as the motion is fluid. Even though quality continues to increase technology has always been a good scapegoat and that will never change. People just want it to work and have the technology be transparent. That's why telepresence has moved into the mainstream - mainly though successful marketing efforts by Cisco - and has seen an increased adoption in the enterprise.

Interesting to note that in October 2008, Cisco CEO John Chambers predicted that videoconferencing would be available on planes within 18 months.

About ooVoo
ooVoo provides a high-quality webcam video chat and communication service that delivers a meaningful way for people to call and connect over the Internet. ooVoo’s technology enables people to experience a face-to-face conversation and share a full range of emotions as if they are in the same room together, whether they are across the street or across the globe. ooVoo’s superior quality video and audio are available to anyone with a computer, broadband connection and a web camera, for real-time video calls with up to six friends, relatives and colleagues simultaneously. ooVoo offers high-resolution video, video conversation recording, telephony, video messaging, instant message chat and file sharing amongst other capabilities.

ooVoo is privately held and headquartered in New York, NY. You can learn more and download free ooVoo software at http://www.ooVoo.com.

Related:
ooVoo Confirms First Air-to-Ground “Three-Way” Video Chat
Cisco CEO sees videoconferencing on planes within 18 months

Tandberg Telepresence T3 Demonstration, An "Immersive Experience"

Videoconferencing technology has been around for a long time with early systems consisting of two closed-circuit television systems connected via cable. Scientists and engineers at Bell Telephone Laboratories pioneered in the development of television and, , demonstrated the first intercity TV transmission over wire with Herbert Hoover, then Secretary of Commerce, who made the first visual telephone call in 1927. Some other early examples are the German network set up between 1938 and 1940, and the British GPO lines at the same period. Bell Labs had a number of prototype PicturePhones which they first introduced in 1956. Most were one-way transmissions of picture and sound over telephone lines.

It wasn't until the 1964 World's Fair that the devices debuted to the public. Visitors to the exhibit used Picturephones, that transmitted voice and image between two nearby booths. Years later in 1970, AT&T introduced the Picturephone but it was still impractical and expensive and a commercial failure when first offered to consumers ($160/month for each fixed end-point). It wasn't until the 1980's when digital networks were deployed in the corporate sector and video compression standards were set that equipment manufacturers were able to deploy the expensive videoconferencing system into into the business sectors.

With the rise of IP networking it gave rise to desktop videoconferencing, or webcam conferencing with CU-SeeMe and Microsoft Netmeeting as well-known predecessors to Skype.

Today, this "immersive experience" has come full circle aided by the big push by by Cisco TelePresence technology into the mainstream. Telepresence technology is essentially a true high definition videoconferencing experience without all the distractions and numerous technical difficulties that generally plagues videoconferencing. The Telepresence room environment makes you to feel as if those you are conferencing with at the remote sites are actually sitting in the same room, with a life-like scale, movement and presence. Telepresence is defined as a real-life experience.

Tele - far off or at a distance
Presence - being present

Sagee Ben-Zedeff of Video over Enterprise says, "All telepresence systems aim to provide convincing stimuli, such that the user will perceive no difference between physical and virtual presence. In fact, even before they were known as “telepresence systems” most of the modern communication systems were trying to preserve some sense of telepresence (for instance, “talking to someone” on the telephone)."

These systems are not priced for the consumer market with the average cost of Cisco's TelePresence System 3200 at $340,000 per end point. Bandwidth also comes as premium with Cisco bandwidth requirements at 3-9 Mbps at 720p and 9-12 Mbps at 1080p for IP QoS (Quality of Service) connections.

While Cisco is a household name other companies like HP Halo, LifeSize, Tandberg, Polycom and notable smaller players, Teliris and Telanetix have their own Telepresence systems. I recently had the opportunity to see a demonstration of the Tandberg Telepresence T3 by Richard Grace of Tandberg at their Bay Area Executive Briefing Center. I was impressed by the quality, the room design and interoperability with non-telepresence systems.



Michael Brandofino, president and CEO of Glowpoint, a provider of managed video communications services says that there's "a perfect storm" for the future growth of telepresence. He notes that, "worldwide revenue opportunity for telepresence is projected to be $5 billion (U.S.) by 2011, with the largest portion of the revenue ($3.8 billion) driven by network and managed service revenues.” He identified Cisco's huge marketing campaign as one of the key drivers along with companies globalizing and todays workforce becoming more comfortable with the technology.

About TANDBERG
TANDBERG is the leading global provider of telepresence, high-definition video conferencing and mobile video products and services with dual headquarters in New York and Norway. TANDBERG designs, develops and markets systems and software for video, voice and data. The company provides sales, support and value-added services in more than 90 countries worldwide. TANDBERG is publicly traded on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker TAA.OL. Please visit www.tandberg.com for more information.

Related:

• Western Electric Products - PicturePhone
• Videophone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• What Is Telepresence Is And What (It) Is Not - Video over Enterprise
• The Perfect Storm of Telepresence, Part 1
• The Perfect Storm of Telepresence, Part 2
• New TANDBERG Immersive Telepresence Delivers Step Change through Aesthetics and Technology